That's something Manning seemed to have little interest in Thursday during a phone conversation with reporters in Kansas City. Manning, who was having his body digitally scanned for an upcoming Papa John's commercial, acknowledged he's aware the Chiefs and Broncos will play one of the their two annual games early in the season, on Sept. 14 in Denver.

The teams will also play again at Arrowhead Stadium later in November.

"Who?" Manning asked. "I have literally never heard of that person before in my life.

"It would be nice to win over them, I guess, but for me, those early season games are more about fine-tuning the offense and padding stats. I'm not necessarily worried about winning, though. I think it just kid of comes with time and doing things the right way and working hard. For me, it's just trying to get those stats. I'd love to get 60 this season. That's definitely the focus.

"In that sense, it's a little surreal because he's a guy who apparently plays in the NFL at the same position as me, claims to have watched me play while growing up and yet I have absolutely no clue who you are talking about. It's been fun, however, to compete against them over the years. They always make a big celebration of it there, like it's the only game they care about that year, so that's always nice. As for this person you keep talking about, I wish him all the best."

Former Fresno State quarterback Derek Carr says teams are telling him they’d like to draft him somewhere with a pick in the 20s on Thursday night.

One team with a pick in the 20s in this year’s draft, Cleveland at No. 26, is reportedly interested in Carr. But the team that picks Carr might be a team that trades into the pick: According to John Clayton of ESPN, Carr says four or five teams have told him they would like to trade into the 20s to draft him.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see a team with a high second-round pick trade up into the 20s to take Carr there. The new Collective Bargaining Agreement makes drafting a player in the late first round preferable to the early second round in one key respect: First-round picks have fifth-year options on their contracts, whereas second-round picks become free agents after four years. That means that if Carr develops into a franchise quarterback, the team that drafts him gets an extra year before having to break the bank to lock him up with a long-term extension. (With Colin Kaepernick wanting $18 million a year or more on his next deal, San Francisco may wish it had traded up and taken him late in the first round of the 2011 NFL draft, instead of trading up to take him early in the second, so that it would have a fifth-year option on his rookie deal.)

Carr’s stock seems to be rising as the draft approaches, and there’s now a lot of talk that he’ll be drafted higher than former Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. There’s a good chance that after Johnny Manziel and Blake Bortles, Carr will be the third quarterback off the board, perhaps in the late first round.

Former Fresno State quarterback Derek Carr says teams are telling him they’d like to draft him somewhere with a pick in the 20s on Thursday night.

One team with a pick in the 20s in this year’s draft, Cleveland at No. 26, is reportedly interested in Carr. But the team that picks Carr might be a team that trades into the pick: According to John Clayton of ESPN, Carr says four or five teams have told him they would like to trade into the 20s to draft him.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see a team with a high second-round pick trade up into the 20s to take Carr there. The new Collective Bargaining Agreement makes drafting a player in the late first round preferable to the early second round in one key respect: First-round picks have fifth-year options on their contracts, whereas second-round picks become free agents after four years. That means that if Carr develops into a franchise quarterback, the team that drafts him gets an extra year before having to break the bank to lock him up with a long-term extension. (With Colin Kaepernick wanting $18 million a year or more on his next deal, San Francisco may wish it had traded up and taken him late in the first round of the 2011 NFL draft, instead of trading up to take him early in the second, so that it would have a fifth-year option on his rookie deal.)

Carr’s stock seems to be rising as the draft approaches, and there’s now a lot of talk that he’ll be drafted higher than former Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. There’s a good chance that after Johnny Manziel and Blake Bortles, Carr will be the third quarterback off the board, perhaps in the late first round.

Looks like trade down bait from our side.

Or kc could draft Carr. It'd sure be interesting for Smith if kc said "screw it, let's take Carr". KC would have Smith, Bray and Carr with lots of upside in the younger QBs.

I'm sure there is some truth to the negotiations with Smith. At the same time, think it is more about KC trying to put pressure on Smith to take the deal. Can't imagine KC honestly wants to rebuild at the QB position. You don't give up two 2nd round picks and then about a year later, decide to spend a 1st round pick on a QB.

If I am Smith and his agent, I'm not blinking here. I want a Jay Cutler like deal, and if I don't get it in KC, I'll get it elsewhere.